New trial set for man serving 14–20 years on overturned child sex abuse conviction

CASPER, Wyo. — Last month, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed a conviction for a Natrona County man serving a 14- to 20-year sentence for second-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

William Frederick Patterson, 29, was convicted after a three-day trial in January 2024. The appeal focused on prosecutor Elizabeth Grill’s comments during opening statements pointing out that Patterson did not speak to law enforcement when the investigation began in 2019.

Defense counsel Kurt Infanger had objected at the time. Because all defendants accused of a criminal offense have a constitutional right to remain silent, any mention of a refusal to speak to law enforcement is broadly prohibited in the courtroom.

According to the March 20 opinion, Grill told the jury during openings, “I will let you know a request to Mr. Patterson to discuss things was made. He declined, which is his right to do so.”

Though Judge Josh Eames sustained the objection and instructed the jury to disregard the comment, the supreme court justices found that the remark prejudiced the jury.

The conviction was overturned and sent back to the Natrona County District Court.

At a status conference Friday morning, a July 14 trial date was set.

Patterson was accused of inappropriately touching two 4-year-old girls at a Mills residence on the morning of Sept. 15, 2019. The jury found Patterson not guilty of charges for one girl and guilty on charges for the other. All the acts were alleged to take place on a single morning after the girls had been dropped off by a family member of Patterson’s girlfriend.

Patterson will only be tried again on the two charges for which he was originally convicted, which relate to alleged conduct with one girl. He is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

The mother of the girls called 911 immediately after picking them up that day, saying one girl disclosed that Patterson had her touch his penis and that he also touched them on the genitals. A Child’s Advocacy Project forensic-style interview was conducted the next day.

The district attorney’s office declined to prosecute in 2019. In 2022, the Mills PD investigator was contacted by the parents, who said the girls continued to bring up the abuse and were remembering more details.

During closing arguments of the trial, Infanger described the girls’ testimony from the stand as “inconsistent and questionable.” He described the second round of CAP interviews in December 2022 as “brand-new stories about what happened.” The justices’ recitation of the girls’ trial testimony also differs from the allegations in the affidavit.

At sentencing, Patterson maintained his innocence. A dozen letters were filed in support of him, including from his fiancée. She described a deep rift between her and her family and her belief that they targeted Patterson for supporting her.

Infanger told Eames that if Patterson got a suspended sentence, he planned to move back to Texas and never return to Wyoming.